1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to assistive technology devices, and more particularly, to a lift chair designed to assist a user to stand up from the chair or sit down into the chair more effortlessly and safely.
2. Description of Related Art
As reported, in the States, over three million people get injured in slipping accidents at home and even the thousand people get killed in such accidents every year. According to the statistical data issued officially in Japan, there are about one million people injured in slipping accidents at home ever year and almost one thousand people get killed so. The victims are most the aged people older than 65.
The aged and disabled usually have difficulty in standing up and sitting down on their own because their degenerative or injured knee joints fail to provide adequate support. Some assistive technology devices have been developed for functioning as a support that helps the aged and disabled to walk, to stand up and to sit down. The existing assistive technology devices usually require the users to raise or lower themselves using their upper limbs to support their bodies. However, physically weak people, particularly the aged, usually also suffer from weak arms and hands, and this fact risks them falling every time they stand up or sit down. Hence, there is a need for an approach to providing assistance in a safer and more effortless way.